Page 9 of Born in Ruin

Mayukhi snorted. “Says the man in a Brioni. One of these days, Adajania, you’ll learn to walk the talk.”

He didn’t bother to reply as they pulled into the driveway of the five-star hotel hosting the fundraiser that night. He brought the car to a halt, getting out and tossing his keys to the valet. Mayukhi was out of the car before he could walk around to open the door for her.

She took a deep, bracing breath as she preceded him into the lobby of the hotel. They walked across it, her heels clicking as they made their way to the event space. Men in safari suits opened the large double doors allowing them to walk into the expensive looking and luxurious smelling place. Across the opulent, large hall she spotted her friends from school. The Crestwood crowd tended to cluster at every event and tonight was no exception.

“Showtime,” Ishaan murmured in her ear. “Remember our agreement, Kraken. You put one toe out of line, and I’ll bury your family six feet under.”

“One toe huh?” Mayukhi turned, tossing her hair and stepping closer to him, his body heat sending a shiver through her. “What happens if it’s a whole foot?” And with that last question, she ground her heel into his shoe, aiming for the part where his shoe wasn’t offering much protection. To his credit, Ishaan barely flinched before shaking her foot off.

“Why don’tyouwalk your talk and find out, Kraken?” The words were laced with enough venom to have her stomach clench.

Before she could spit something back at him, a familiar voice cut into their conversation.

“Hey Yukhi!” Naveen’s greeting was a welcome interruption.

She turned to him with a smile, ignoring the tall, hulking menace standing beside her. “Naveen, it’s been too long,” she cooed as she air kissed his cheeks.

“Has it?” Naveen’s smile was thin as he engaged in some kind of staring contest with Ishaan. “Strange company you’re keeping nowadays, Yukhi.”

She laughed, an awkward sound. “I am, aren’t I?”

“She is,” Ishaan interjected smoothly. “Yukhi’s all about broadening her horizons, aren’t you darling?”

She broadened her awkward smile. “That’s right, sweetheart.” She reached back and grabbed the front of his shirt, digging her fingers in and hoping she got some of his chest hair too. “Naveen, Ishaan and I-“

“No.” Naveen shook his head, interrupting her. “There is no Ishaan and you. There can’t be. No way in hell.”

“Excuse me?” Mayukhi wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Friends they might be, but Naveen didn’t get to tell her who she could and couldn’t date or for that matter get forcefully engaged to.

“Do you know what these guys are doing?” Naveen’s voice was raised high enough to attract the attention of his posse.

“These guys?” Mayukhi repeated. What guys? As far as she knew, Ishaan was just one guy. Unless Naveen had snorted something that was making him see double or triple.

“They’re ruining Varun’s reputation, and he isn’t even alive to defend himself. They’ve got some sick kind of influence over Dhrithi and are making her accuse Varun of domestic violence. Can you believe it? You knew Dhrithi and Varun, Yukhi. You’ve hung out with all of us. Do you believe this shit? Do you believe Varun could do this?”

Before she could respond, the organisers started making fundraising noises at the podium and they had to follow the crowd to the beautifully set up tables. Ishaan pulled her chair out and Mayukhi lowered herself into it, a strange numbness taking over her body.

“Was he telling the truth?” she asked him as he leaned over her to push her chair in.

Ishaan turned his face, those darkly intense eyes of his meeting hers. “What do you think, Yukhi?” he asked, a mocking twist to his lips.

“Don’t call me that,” she said, her voice an even tone.

“Why?”

“Only my friends call me that.”

He straightened and took his seat, not looking at her any longer, his gaze on the stage at the front. Mayukhi straightened her shoulders and forced herself to ignore the venomous glares her friends were shooting her.

There would be time to talk. For now, she would do what she was meant to. She’d pretend to be Ishaan Adajania’s, no matter how much it made her skin crawl. Her skin did crawl, she told her rebellious conscience when it tried to correct her. Skin. Did. Crawl.

FIVE

Ishaan

Ishaan sat at his seat, eyes focused on the stage as the Chairperson of the foundation droned on and on about their charitable works. The air conditioning in this fancy space didn’t seem to work. A trickle of sweat ran down his back, as he shifted in his seat, Naveen’s words from before running through his brain, a broken soundtrack to the endless thoughts that already teemed through it.

Interestingly, Mayukhi sat beside him, pale and determined, not a squeak escaping her. Say what you would about the woman, no one could accuse her of not honouring their agreement. And she did it looking like a wet dream in heels. That red dress was probably designed by Lucifer himself to tempt souls to the Underworld.

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